All square as Gypsies grab point in Tallaght

in brief

A first goal for the club from teenager Gareth McCaffrey saw Shamrock Rovers come from behind as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Bohemians at Tallaght Stadium. Rovers' Mikey Drennan missed two good openings either side of Bohs' taking the lead with the scrappiest of goals on 26 minutes.

A first goal for the club from teenager Gareth McCaffrey saw Shamrock Rovers come from behind as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw against arch-rivals Bohemians at Tallaght Stadium. Rovers' Mikey Drennan missed two good openings either side of Bohs' taking the lead with the scrappiest of goals on 26 minutes.

Rovers were deservedly level on 51 minutes when McCaffrey latched onto a loose pass from Bohs' skipper Dave Mulcahy to run on and drill a left-footed shot to the corner of the net from the edge of the area.

Blues sink St Pat's in comprehensive win

LIMERICK FC made it five wins out of six after defeating St Patrick's Athletic 3-1 at Markets Field yesterday evening, a fourth league defeat in a row for the Inchicore men.

Ian Turner's fantastic free kick on 11 minutes gave the home side an early lead, the midfielder's strike proving too hot for St Pat's goalkeeper Conor O'Malley to handle.

Shaun Kelly was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident on 26 minutes and St Pat's bombarded the Limerick goal, but a howler from Aaron Greene in trying to clear gave Vinny Faherty a tap-in just before half-time to double Limerick's lead.

Cork's title hopes are derailed by Seasiders

Cork's title hopes suffered a blow at Bray as the Leesiders were held to a 1-1 draw. The visitors were bidding for their third 1-0 success over the Wicklow side this term while 11 of Bray's last 12 matches in all competitions had finished by a 1-0 scoreline.

The away team nearly took all three points in the 88th minute. Peter Cherrie parried Mark O'Sullivan's low cross-shot. The loose ball fell to Karl Sheppard eight-yards out. But the ball was diverted agonisingly over the crossbar.

Defeat plunges Derry into relegation mire

DERRY City moved right back into the relegation dog-fight following their disappointing 0-2 defeat to fellow struggler's Drogheda United. The visitors took the lead on 43 minutes after a miss placed pass only found Adam Whelan and his super right wing cross was powerfully headed home by an unmarked Sean Thornton from close range.

Derry thought they had levelled things on 72 minutes but Barry McNamee's free-kick hit the side netting.

Dundalk miss chance to go ten points clear

DUNDALK missed the opportunity to move ten points clear at the top of the Premier Division table as an improved Sligo Rovers twice came from behind to grab a valuable 2-2 draw to aid their battle against relegation.

Cork's scoreless encounter in Bray earlier in the day had presented the defending champions with an opportunity to strengthen their grip on the crown, but they were below their best in a scattered affair and remain eight clear at the summit with six points remaining.

Galway romp to easy win against Longford

GALWAY United top scorer Jake Keegan made it 12 goals for the season, as he hit a hat-trick in their comprehensive 4-2 win at home, to Longford Town.

It was 1-0 to the hosts in Eamonn Deacy Park at half-time and Keegan completed his hat-trick, before Gary Shanahan made it 4-0.

Messi and Aguero run amok against Bolivia

Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero struck two goals apiece in Argentina's 7-0 romp against an out-of-sorts Bolivia in the United States yesterday morning.

A largely second string side, with captain Lionel Messi coming on for the final 20 minutes, took to 12 the number of goals Argentina have put past Bolivia in two friendlies already this year.

Socceroos to monitor unrest in Tajikistan

Australia's national soccer body is monitoring the security situation in Tajikistan ahead of their World Cup qualifier in Dushanbe after 10 people were killed in violence in the former Soviet state.

At least eight policemen and two gunmen were killed in the Tajik capital and the adjacent city of Vahdat in armed attacks.